Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck on Tuesday, on their second wedding anniversary.
The 55-year-old singer listed April 26 as the date of her divorce, after months of speculation that she had split from the 52-year-old actor.
During their two-year marriage, J-Lo filmed a documentary called The Greatest Love Story Never Told, which reportedly became a source of contention between the two exes.
In the film, Ben was “stunned” when he saw her musicians flipping through his personal love letters, which J-Lo had given them as inspiration for her next album.
The actor kept the correspondence with the singer during his 13-year marriage to Jennifer Garner, later having the letters and emails bound into a book to give to her when they met again in 2021.
Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck on Tuesday, their second wedding anniversary
During their two-year marriage, J-Lo filmed The Greatest Love Story Never Told and it was reported at the time that there was a bone of contention over the singer sharing Ben’s love letters
He told the camera, “My book that I gave her was down there. She was like, ‘I’ve been reading it to people. This is kind of an inspiration and I’ve been showing them the book.’
“I was like, you showed all those letters to all the musicians… and they were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll call you Pen Affleck.’”
And I thought, “Oh my god.”
On how he felt about the letters being kept private, Ben added: ‘I found the beauty, the poetry and the irony in the fact that it’s the greatest love story never told. Making a record about it is a bit like telling it.’
Elsewhere in the documentary, Ben says, “Things that are private, I’ve always felt were sacred and special, because they’re partly private.”
During the documentary, J-Lo said, “This book is a book that Ben gave me for our first Christmas together. It’s every letter and every email that we wrote to each other from 20 years ago to today.”
She marked a note that read, “The Greatest Love Story Never Told by Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck 2001-2010… and counting…”
The couple got engaged in late 2002, but broke up a year later. In 2004, the couple finally ended their relationship.
In the intervening years, J-Lo married and divorced Marc Anthony, with whom she had 16-year-old twins Max and Emme.
In the film, Ben was “flabbergasted” when he saw her musicians flipping through his personal love letters he sent J-Lo when they first started dating in the early 2000s (pictured 2002)
‘I was like, you showed all those letters to all the musicians… and they were like, “Yeah, we’re going to call you Pen Affleck.” And I was like, “Oh my god.”
Ben and Jennifer Garner began dating in August 2004 before tying the knot the following year. They announced their separation in 2015 (pictured in 2014)
Ben and Jennifer Garner began dating in August 2004, before tying the knot the following year. They announced their separation in 2015, and their divorce was finalized in 2018.
The couple now jointly care for their three children: Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12.
After the film came out, insiders denied the idea that Jennifer Garner was shocked that Ben had kept his love letters to J-Lo during their marriage. Garner insisted that Ben was happy for them and that she was also at peace with her relationship with John Miller.
‘Ben would love for the outside world to know about his love letters, but he’s a romantic and as much as he adored Jennifer, he never got over JLo,’ a source told DailyMail.com.
“Ben keeps his memories, whether it’s movies he’s worked on or family and relationship moments. He always has what the kids call ‘receipts.'”
They continued, “No one is surprised by this. Jennifer is fine with it, JLo is obviously thrilled, and everyone can see that this was all meant to be.
‘Jennifer and Ben have beautiful children and are both enjoying the relationships they always dreamed of.’
According to insiders, the couple did not sign a prenuptial agreement before they got married in July 2022.
This is Jennifer’s fourth failed marriage and Ben’s second.
The couple first sparked rumors of a split when they weren’t seen together for 47 days.
There was still speculation about a fractured relationship, as they spent several summer vacations apart and Lopez also walked the red carpet alone at the Met Gala in May. It was also the reason Lopez canceled her world tour “to be with her family.”
Since then, the two have spent their summers on opposite coasts and have not celebrated their anniversary together.
The couple first sparked divorce rumors when they weren’t seen together for 47 days
The couple married in a lavish ceremony in Georgia in August 2022 – a month after officially tying the knot in Las Vegas in July
Jennifer’s own friends have now suggested that the actress needs to ‘look within herself’ after filing for divorce from Ben.
A source close to the star told DailyMail.com that people close to Jennifer are now fed up with her chaotic love life.
An insider told us: ‘After four failed marriages, her friends think she needs to take a good look at herself and focus on herself instead of what others expect of her. She needs to finally figure out who she is and what she wants from her future.’
The source told DailyMail.com that the My Love Don’t Cost A Thing star isn’t the only one capable of playing mind games.
The insider explained Ben’s approach this way: ‘Jennifer said she was tired of being humiliated by Ben and that she waited until the two-year anniversary because she wanted to stab him.
“But it didn’t hurt him. He’s been done for a long time and deep down she knows it. He gave her this so she wouldn’t look like the bad guy.”
The couple were spotted together on a number of public outings, including their last on June 2, after deciding to split nearly two months earlier.
At the time, they greeted each other warmly and even appeared to share a kiss while attending a basketball game for Ben’s son Samuel in Santa Monica.
They also seemed to be in high spirits as they left together, even though, as it turns out, they had secretly cancelled before.
Speculation of a divorce intensified after they were unable to spend several summer vacations together and Jen walked the red carpet alone at the Met Gala in May, the day she canceled her world tour “to be with her family.”
Since then, the two have spent their summers on opposite coasts and have not celebrated their anniversary together.
However, in recent months, the two have been spotted together a few times, but surprisingly always in the presence of Ben’s children. They are reportedly trying to rekindle their romance.
After being spotted on several outings without their wedding rings, they now made it clear that they were wearing their wedding rings again.
Jennifer was even spotted paying Ben a special visit at his Brentwood, California rental home on his birthday.
The shocking divorce filing comes after they’ve been seen together — and even made a few public appearances — in an attempt to maintain they were reconciling, despite ongoing rumors of marital troubles.
However, the public was largely unaware that they had already secretly seceded on April 26.which is listed as their official separation date on Lopez’s divorce filing.
In the weeks leading up to their secret split, the two had been seen frequently in public during their outings in late March and were very affectionate while house hunting together in New York City.
After celebrating Easter together in Brooklyn, Ben returned to California to film The Accountant 2.
When news of the split broke, the actor was photographed leaving his office with his wedding ring noticeably absent
Jennifer’s pursuit of financial compensation was a direct response to Ben’s behavior during the end of the relationship. Pictured in May 2023 in LA
